Advise from a lighting Engineer

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JEST0r

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Just started with this hobby just a word of advise. I tend to do lighting for various projects around the globe. Just wanted to tell you guys if your displaying any figs ie hot etc, stay clear of the old type lighting ie Edison lamps etc they will rot your figs also any halogen lamps, stick to LED if you can or even better fibre obtics. The old type lighting destroys rubber and plastics very quicky. Any advise you need guys send me a message, will hopefully have pictures of my display rig in the next couple of days I prefer fibre optics myself with 500 watt supply.:lecture
 
Thanks for the advice. I have been pretty worried about the lighting in my room recently and I have also been looking into getting lights for my display case. What would you recommend for long lasting display case lights, some that I could leave on whenever I am home without risk of damaging the figures?
 
I would go for LED lighting. No Heat and very little problems with UV regarding leaving on all day you could do but personally I would buy a plug timer just for safety. Amazon do alot of kits for LED strip lighting for a tight budget and you can cut it to the size you require. It also allows you to change the color of lighting.

[ame]https://www.amazon.com/Waterproof-Strip-lights-Remote-Controller/dp/B009RZ9LQI/ref=sr_1_78?ie=UTF8&qid=1363256960&sr=8-78&keywords=led+lights[/ame]

[ame]https://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Conserve-Socket-F7C009q-Energy-Saving/dp/B003P2UMS0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1363257297&sr=8-3&keywords=plug+timer[/ame]

Thats an easy way to do it

A lot of collectors use these in the uk
[ame]https://www.amazon.co.uk/Saxby-13845-Chop-Strip-White/dp/B004B42MAM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1363257517&sr=8-2[/ame]
 
Thanks for the information, Jest0r. I recently got that same kit you've linked. Sylvania is distributing it through Costco here but it's clearly the same. The white lights make the color red pop. I assume it's because it has a low color index (the product isn't marked with a rating).

I'd be very interested to know more about using fiber optics. I'm in the planning stages of a new wall display. I look forward to your photos, and anything you could add about color temperatures.
 
Are we talking lights like inside detolfs and actually inside the displays or like, lamps, that you may have in your collection room?

And Edison lamps? You mean incandescent bulbs right (I know Edison invented them, duh)?







Philips+Incandescent+A-19+Light+Bulb.gif.jpeg











I read that these are the best option (as far as artificial light goes), along with LEDs and fiber optics. They don't emit UV. I heard that florescent are what you should avoid.



Obviously I don't have them right in with my collectibles, but I do have two lamps with incandescent in my room. They're on either sides of the room with shades.
 
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Ok i'm in the UK, i'm yet to light my detolf but i've been looking into it. I was just going to get the ikea dioder colour changer (even with the warm light). Are those from Amazon practically the same only cheaper?

Main reason i looked at the dioders is because they looks simple, stick the strips where you want them and plug in and your good to go. I've seen the rolls of LED strip lights on ebay but i have no idea how you would split them and connect them (so you have 4 different strips on 4 different levels all lit)

I would go for LED lighting. No Heat and very little problems with UV regarding leaving on all day you could do but personally I would buy a plug timer just for safety. Amazon do alot of kits for LED strip lighting for a tight budget and you can cut it to the size you require. It also allows you to change the color of lighting.

https://www.amazon.com/Waterproof-S...F8&qid=1363256960&sr=8-78&keywords=led+lights

https://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Conse...TF8&qid=1363257297&sr=8-3&keywords=plug+timer

Thats an easy way to do it

A lot of collectors use these in the uk
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Saxby-1384...2MAM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1363257517&sr=8-2
 
yea bulbs, if the lights not shinning on them directly you should be fine. With regards to led tape you cut it to the size you want and solder wires to it. I think you can get connectors now though, to be honest its a two minute job. I have put together display cabinets which use the halogen GU10 which I hate, alot of heat given off. I normally change them to LED Lights ([ame]https://www.amazon.co.uk/SuperLEDTM-WHITE-BRIGHTEST-REPLACING-HALOGEN/dp/B007Z2ENC2/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1363276499&sr=8-4[/ame]) If you want your collectables to look there best these are the best lights to get. They use a full spectrum of light ie like daylight ([ame]https://www.amazon.co.uk/AURAGLOW-Light-Daylight-Spectrum-Equivalent/dp/B005TI62D2/ref=sr_1_5?s=lighting&ie=UTF8&qid=1363276531&sr=1-5[/ame]). I seem to remember the best colour rating is about 5500 kelvin its when the light is the best white level go higher it tends to look blue and lower you get a yellow look which saturates reds etc.
 
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You got it Tesla was a genius mad as a hatter but a total genius. Edison had a very Dark side and was money motivated and if he had his way we would have a power station on ever street corner. I don't think he liked elephants either.
 
LOL. I just feel the need to post that whenever anyone mentions Eddison any more.
Tesla was a man born 100 years too early. and it's a shame, How he was treated, what happened to him, and how he is regarded in many circles to this day.
 
Thanks for the information, Jest0r. I recently got that same kit you've linked. Sylvania is distributing it through Costco here but it's clearly the same. The white lights make the color red pop. I assume it's because it has a low color index (the product isn't marked with a rating).

I'd be very interested to know more about using fiber optics. I'm in the planning stages of a new wall display. I look forward to your photos, and anything you could add about color temperatures.

Ok on the fibre optics issue the easy way to explain if its for you is to list advantages and disadvantages.

Disadvantages

1)Don't bother with the pree made kits as they tend to be crap
2) you must take into consideration that when designing your set up take into mind bend radius on cable
3) You will need a light source sometimes a few depending on the design. (They can may have a fan in them and a color wheel motor which will make a noise) and you will need to store it.
4) it aint cheep and there will be more cable's than a standard LED set up.

Advantages
1) You can experiment with the type of lamps used in light source untill you find the one what suits your needs the best.
2)different type of fittings can be used on one light source IE spot lights light bars etc.
3) Once you fitted it if anything goes wrong it will be the light source
4) No heat or UV's
5)Cheep To run
6) You can change the color of the lighting by the use of a color wheel

I must admit I have a soft spot for fibre optics even though LED lighting is very good I like the light you get from fibre optics and if you use a light bar you dont getting spotting as you get with LED lines (ie lines of dots) you can defuse but its never 100% with LED. Any way good company here may give you some ideas

https://www.universal-fibre-optics.com/

I know its UK but it will give you an idea
 
Thanks once more! So "warm white" and "natural white" also refer to full spectrum?

This should help
https://www.bulbtiger.com/blog/2012/06/09/difference-between-cool-white-and-warm-white-bulb/

I use 5500k light because I like how it picks up different skin tones on hot toys you would find colours to be very sharp that's how I like to display almost like a musium display you must look for full daylight spectrum if you want that effect . Carefull what you get as I know warm light as yellow light which is not full spectrum. If you do order anything just ask the seller. If they don't know avoid them. I will put some photos on I have taken of a hot toys head with full spectrum and one with yellow light. You will notice a big difference.
 
This is a good discussion (minus the Tesla rant) and should be preserved. I'm going to move it to the Display section.
 
I looked into fibre optics myself at one point. Museums tend to use them and I even picked up some parts used (form a Disney store that shut down) which was used to create the star ceiling. Problem seems when you get the ones with enough "juice" tend to get hot at the source and need ventilation and that tends to get noisy.
The solution that seems to be be most suitable for us is what they use in Swarovski stores but I have yet to find any info on what they use. It looks like fibre optics but they have so many of these that I suspect each display has it's own light source but it's not noisy so maybe it's not. But then I suspect even if I figure out what they use it likely be too $$ for us to implement so
 
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